Arts & Life
May 14, 2025 by Our Reporter
After a few years of delay, a new voice has emerged from the African theatrical landscape, with House of Naira, a stunning original musical from Nigerian playwright and creator Kehinde Oretimehin, reimagining Nigeria’s identity at Terra Kulture, on Victoria Island on Saturday.
Created by Kehinde Oretimehin, an acclaimed Nigerian musician, director, and composer whose works explore the intersections of culture, identity, and justice, the 6-man musical is directed by Tosin Adeyemi.
In a chat with Arts Writers in Lagos at the weekend, Oretimehin said that the growth of the creative industry lies in collaborations between different key players. He noted that given the huge capital involvement in production of quality work of arts, partnership between stakeholders will reduce the burden.
House of Naira is a powerful and thought-provoking musical that tells the story of Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and its complex but beautiful geopolitical landscape, languages, tribes/cultures, and ways of life. The play features a talented cast of six (Triple-Threat) actors with extraordinary singing voices and stylised dancing feet, who are very famous on the Nigerian theatre stage and will bring to life the vibrant characters and stories that shape Nigeria’s identity.
The musical features a dynamic blend of beautiful and enchanting original traditional Nigerian songs in different languages, tonality, colours, tessituras, rhythms, timbres, dynamics, articulations, and harmonic structures. It includes some western Broadway and West End standards in delivery blended with the Nigerian Highlife, Afro-Pop, Afrobeat, and contemporary styles, showcasing the country’s rich musical heritage. The cast will perform expressive and mesmerising dance routines, heartwarming body movements, and poignant spoken word pieces, ensuring an engaging and immersive experience for the audience.
With its rich symbolism, electrifying music, and a cast of acclaimed global actors, the production tells a provocative yet ultimately redemptive story about unity, power, and the cost of division— all set in the metaphorical house of Nigeria.
The musical centres on a patriarch who, influenced by his mother’s traditionalist beliefs, marries four women, each from one of Nigeria’s major ethnic groups: Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, and South-South. As love turns to rivalry, the household becomes a battlefield of competing identities, grievances, and emotional warfare. The man, symbolic of Nigeria itself, appears to succumb to the weight of it all, dying amid the chaos his home has become.
But House of Naira refuses to end in tragedy. In a dramatic final act, the man is revealed to be alive — his staged death an elaborate intervention designed to jolt his wives into confronting their differences. Faced with the possibility of losing their shared future — their inheritance, their legacy, their identity — the women come to a powerful realisation that unity is their only path forward.
What follows is a moment of transformation. The wives, once divided by language, pride, and pain, pledge to work together in tolerance and solidarity. It is a hopeful, poetic resolution that mirrors the dream of a truly united Nigeria, forged not by force but by understanding and interdependence.
“This story is Nigeria,” said Oretimehin. “It’s raw, painful, beautiful — but also resilient. It asks what happens when we finally see beyond our own tribe, our own struggle, and realise we’re stronger together. It’s not just about one nation. It’s about any society wrestling with its identity,” he added.
The music of House of Naira is as diverse and resonant as the story itself, blending Afrobeat, Highlife, tribal percussion, choral traditions, and contemporary theatre scores. Audiences will be moved by its emotional depth, cultural richness, and moments of sheer theatrical spectacle — all guided by a world-class production team.
Elevating the show further is its extraordinary ensemble cast — international stage and screen veterans with over two decades of experience performing across Nigeria, the UK, the US, and South Africa. Their commanding performances bring authenticity, gravitas, and global relevance to a deeply local story.
Following its premiere at Terra Kulture on Victoria Island, Lagos on Saturday and Sunday May 17 and 18, House of Nairais set for an international tour, with engagements in London, New York, and Johannesburg under negotiation. Plans for a film adaptation and global streaming partnership are also underway.
This is not just a show — it’s a movement. Investors and global partners are invited to support what promises to be a defining work of African theatre, one that bridges continents while holding a mirror to the world’s oldest conflicts — and boldest hopes.
The musical is a powerful new musical that explores the soul of Nigeria through a deeply symbolic family drama. When a wealthy man, pressured by his traditional mother, marries four women from Nigeria’s major ethnic groups, his home becomes a battlefield of rivalry, culture, and identity. As tensions rise, the man appears to die under the weight of the conflict, only to reveal he staged his death to unite his wives. Faced with losing their shared future, the women pledge unity, tolerance, and collective strength. Blending Afrobeat, traditional rhythms, and contemporary theatre, House of Naira is a stirring allegory of a divided nation seeking reconciliation. Featuring a world-class cast of international stage and screen actors, this production is not just a story, it’s a statement of hope, healing, and rebirth.
House of Naira
Terra Kulture
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